04.18
Tonight? Two Studio Ghibli films.
My Neighbor Totoro – another Miyazaki film. Two girls (Satsuki (10?) and Mei (4) and their father move out into the country (in Japan, of course) while the girl’s mother is in a hospital (a 3 hour walk away).
A “cute” enjoyable movie. A mild Miyazaki. The girls are the central characters but just barely. And none of them are particularly strong natured characters. I could see elements of characters in other Miyazaki films in the two girls. Satsuki ‘reads’ like a younger Kiki but she moves around like Chihiro from Spirited Away. Mei reminds me of Ponyo except not as manic.
Whisper of the Heart – written by Miyazaki, based on a manga, but he didn’t direct it.
A very crowded movie. Unlike a Miyazaki film where actions centers around the characters, this one has a lot of things happening in it around the characters. The main character, Shizuku, wants to do something with her life. The only problem being, when she finally becomes inspired it happens when she should be studying for her high school admittance tests.
A good movie, if you’re into that sort of thing. In fan fiction it would be categorized as ‘pre-ship’. And lets not forget the Japanese version of “Country Roads” at the end. The song is part of the plot.
